1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to merchandising aids, and relates more particularly to the manner and means by which a label holder or a combination label holder/sign holder is secured to a merchandising shelf, particularly a merchandising shelf devoid of a xe2x80x9cC-channelxe2x80x9d along its front edge. The label holder portion of the merchandising aid is designed to removably receive non-adhesive labels to display consumer information such as descriptions and prices of products on the shelf, as well as inventory control information, such as barcodes and the like. The sign holder portion of the merchandising aid, if included, is adapted to carry a xe2x80x9cflagxe2x80x9d or sign displaying special information to the consumer, such as identifying a xe2x80x9csalexe2x80x9d item or the like. For simplicity, the terms xe2x80x9clabel holderxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9clabel/sign holderxe2x80x9d are used interchangeably to include label holders with or without one or more means to also carry a sign or flag as discussed below.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shelves with xe2x80x9cC-channelsxe2x80x9d along the front edge are commonly found in merchandise outlets such as supermarkets, pharmacies and the like, the C-channel being formed with spaced upper and lower opposed lips to provide a convenient means for mounting many different kinds of fit-in articles, such as labels, signs or sign holder which provide information relating to the merchandise displayed on the shelf. While adhesive-backed labels can be secured directly to such a surface, removing such adhesive-backed labels is time consuming and difficult, leaving an unsightly residue build-up which is resistant to cleaning. Generally, non-adhesive paper or plastic labels are preferred since they can easily be replaced if they become damaged or the product information changes. Therefore, label holders have been provided which commonly have a back or body panel attached in some fashion to the supporting surface, with a transparent cover member flexibly secured along one mating edge to the body panel to define a pocket between the front surface of the body panel and the rear surface of the cover member for removable reception of one or more such information-containing labels.
Label holders are generally provided in elongated sections, perhaps 4xe2x80x2 or more in width, and may be secured by adhesive strips or the like to any supporting surface such as the side of a shelving or warehouse unit. However, most applications for such label holders are directly on the front flange or in the C-channel of the front edge of a product display shelf. Various prior art embodiments of such label holders can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,713,899, 5,458,307, 5,488,793, 5,515,632, 5,682,698, 5,899,011 and 6,105,295, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entireties by reference.
Oftentimes, in addition to the information provided by the product labels, it is desired to highlight certain information about a particular product or group of products by displaying an enlarged xe2x80x9cflagxe2x80x9d or sign on the shelf, depending from the portion of the shelf carrying such products, or extending into the aisle at such a location. Different forms of xe2x80x9csign holdersxe2x80x9d are also well known in the merchandising art, examples of which can be seen in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,793, as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,575, 4,531,313, 4,625,441, 4,704,813, 4,917,342, 4,995,182, 5,682,698, and 6,163,996, the disclosures of which are also incorporated herein in their entireties by reference.
Separate sign holders can simply be positioned on the shelf itself, or juxtaposed to the shelf in the aisle. Yet, such an arrangement may not be stable, can waste valuable product display space, and can even cause damage to consumers. For that reason, as seen in some of the aforementioned patents, such sign holders may be designed to be supported partially or entirely in the same C-channels as the label holders.
While constructions of this nature are convenient for many applications, significant difficulties are encountered when it is necessary to insert new labels or to remove or replace labels already carried in the underlying label holder. In order to access the label holder pocket, any and all sign holders secured in front of and, therefore, overlying the label holder must first be removed, and subsequently replaced. This is time consuming, labor intensive, and obviously inefficient, particularly when using elongated label holders that may have multiple sign holders engaged along their length.
Pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/907,588 filed Jul. 19, 2001 (the ""588 application), the subject matter of which is also incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, provides a combination label/sign holder wherein the sign holders are carried by, and move with, the cover member and do not interfere with access to the label holder pocket so that labels can be selectively inserted and removed from the label holder pocket without removing any of the sign holders associated with related products. More specifically, in the ""588 application, the front surface of the cover member of the label holder is provided with a pair of sign holder-receiving lip members which can snappingly receive edge portions of a resilient plastic or metal sign holder such as seen in aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,793, or the engaging portions of a depending sign holder of the type seen in aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,682,698 and 6,163,996, or other such commercially available sign holders. The combination label/sign holder of the ""588 application also includes a locking construction to secure paper or the like labels in the pocket, with a ledge or other finger-engaging element adapted to facilitate opening the label holder for insertion or removal of labels from the pocket as seen particularly in aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,632.
Some merchandising shelves do not have integral C-channels and have only a downwardly depending or downwardly and forwardly angled front edge or lip terminating in a rearwardly-directed lower flange. Attachment of a label holder or a combination label/sign holder to a merchandise shelf devoid of an integral C-channel is problematic. While label or label/sign holders can be adhesively secured to the depending lip on shelves of this nature, moving or replacing such elements, as with the adhesively-backed labels themselves, is difficult, time consuming and leaves an unsightly residue that is resistant to cleaning. Attempts to avoid the adhesive attachment with various elements fixing the lower portion of the label holder to or around the rearwardly extending flange on the bottom of the shelf have been generally unsuccessful because they cannot retain the body panel in position against the front edge of the shelf when the cover member is tipped forwardly to insert or remove a label from the pocket.
A primary object of this invention is the provision of means designed to facilitate attaching a label holder such as seen, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,632, and/or a combination label/sign holder, such as seen, for example, in the ""588 application, to a merchandising shelf of the type described above lacking a C-channel.
Another object of this invention is to provide an adaptor element which can be fixed to the top of the shelf, such as by one or more integrally extruded or independent fasteners such as xe2x80x9cpush pinxe2x80x9d members or the like snappingly engaged in the apertures commonly defined in the supporting surfaces of such shelves, with a forwardly extending reverted front edge or xe2x80x9chookxe2x80x9d member adapted to engage with upper portions of the body panel of the label holder to secure the same in position. Such adaptor elements preferably have a unique form of integral push pin designed to snappingly engage in both round and diamond-shaped openings found on shelves of this nature.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide an adaptor element which secures the upper portions of the body panel of a label holder without interfering with the ability of the cover member to move relative to the body panel to open a pocket formed between these elements for reception or removal of a label as necessary.
A further object of this invention is the provision of a label holder assembly including an adaptor element as discussed above to secure the upper portions of the body panel with various elements adapted to underlie or wrap around the rearwardly extending lower shelf flange to secure the lower portions of the label holder.
Yet another object of this invention is the provision of a label holder assembly as described adapted to cooperate with a unique clip member to secure the lower portions of the label holder to the rearwardly extending shelf flange.
Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the ensuing description and claims taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.